Palais Auersperg
Encyclopedia
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
, is a baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
palace
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
at Auerspergstraße 1 in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
's Josefstadt
Josefstadt
Josefstadt is the eighth district of Vienna . It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later. Josefstadt is a heavily populated urban area with many workers and residential homes.It has a population of 22,057 people...
district.
History
The Palais Auersperg was built in the years between 1706 and 1710 on the plot of the former Rottenhof with the plans of the two well-known architects Johann Bernhard Fischer von ErlachJohann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach
----Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, born Johann Bernhard Fischer was probably the most influential Austrian architect of the Baroque period....
and Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt for Hieronymus Capece de Rofrano, to whom the former name "Rosenkavalier" refers. The middle part of the Palais was altered between 1720 and 1723 by Johann Christian Neupauer.
From 1759 Joseph Friedrich von Sachsen-Hildburghausen rented the Palais and hired Christoph Willibald Gluck as head conductor of the concerts held there. In 1749 Prinz von Hildburghausen started to use the Palais as his winter residence. Prinz von Hildburghausen hired Giuseppe Bonno
Giuseppe Bonno
Giuseppe Bonno was an Austrian composer of Italian origin....
as musical conductor of the palais. Between 1754 and 1761 weekly music courses were held during the winter months.
In 1777 Johann Adam Fürst Auersperg, friend and confidant of Kaiser Franz-Stephan and Maria Theresia, bought the Palais, at that time still called Palais Rofrano. From 1786 the Palais was renamed Palais Auersperg and was the setting for a series of important and well-known musical events, notably Idomeneo
Idomeneo
Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, which had been set to music by André Campra as Idoménée in 1712...
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
and Sieben Worte des Erlösers am Kreuze by Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
were performed there.
As Johann Adam Fürst Auersperg`s second marriage stayed childless and the children of his first marriage had already died, he adopted his nephew Carl Auersperg (1750–1822). Carl Auersperg accepted his inheritance in 1795. Unhappily the marriage of Carl and his wife Josepha also stayed childless so in 1812 they adopted Prince Vinzens Auersperg, who accepted his inheritance in 1817.
In the time between 1827 and 1837 Prince Wasa stayed at the Palais Auersperg with the Swedish Royal Family because his inheritance had been contested in Sweden.
In 1864, on the orders of Vinzens Auersperg, a ballroom building was built along the Lerchenfelderstrasse. After his death in 1872 his widow Wilhelmine commissioned further alterations to the ballroom building in order to rent the facilities to the Geometric Institute. In 1878 Franz Joseph Emanuel (1856–1938), son of Wilhelmine Auersperg, and his wife Wilhelmine Kinsky took possession of the Palais Auersperg. Wilhelmine Kinsky organized many charity events for the benefit of the organization called Vereinigung zur Errettung verwahrloster Kinder. Pieces of theatre and music were performed in the Rosenkavaliersaal, partially with the participation of members of the aristocracy.
In 1901 Franz Joseph Auersperg returned the ballroom building to its initial use. Unfortunately, in the course of the Second World War the ballroom building was completely destroyed and the remains were therefore removed.
Between 1923 and 1935 the Palais Auersperg was temporarily rented to the Bundesdenkmalamt
Bundesdenkmalamt
The Bundesdenkmalamt is the name of the Austrian Federal Monuments Office, a department of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture that is responsible for cultural heritage in Austria.-History:...
and a film company. In 1940 Ferdinand Auersperg (1887–1942) inherited the Palais and in 1942 his sister Christiane Croy accepted her inheritance. She lived with her family in the upper rooms of the Palais during the Second World War. They also hid members of the resistance there during the Second World War and there is a sign near the entrance of the Palais which commemorates this. In 1944 the organization „Provisorische österreichische Nationalkomitee“, better known as O5, was established in the Palais. In 1945 the Palais was seized by the Alliierte Kommandantur, the police force of the Allied Control Council
Allied Control Council
The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority, known in the German language as the Alliierter Kontrollrat and also referred to as the Four Powers , was a military occupation governing body of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany after the end of World War II in Europe...
, and was subsequently used as their headquarters.
Konsul Alfred Weiss, founder of Arabia Kaffee, bought the Palais in 1953. In 1953 and 1954 it was extended by the architect Oswald Haerdtl who added the orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
, the winter garden
Winter garden
The origin of the winter garden dates back to the 17th to 19th centuries where European nobility would construct large conservatories that would house tropical and subtropical plants and would act as an extension of their living space. Many of these would be attached to their main palaces...
and more functional rooms. Alfred Weiss opened a large café for 600 guests in the Palais, with a terrace next to it. After his death, his descendants sold the Palais to a company called General Partners A.G..
In the beginning of 2006 the Palais was sold again to an old European family. The State Apartments remained the same and are still used for musical purposes. In the upper floor most areas have been changed into office rooms. In the next few years the Palais will be restored and a small museum is planned. Currently the Palais is used for balls and musical events of various kinds; it has eleven rooms and can accommodate up to 1000 guests.
Literature
- Artur Hartzlieb-Wallthor (ed.): Ein Wiener Palais erzählt / Das Rosenkavalierpalais Auersperg. Böhlau, Wien/Köln/Weimar 1999
- Felix Czeike: Geschichte der Stadt Wien. Fritz Molden, Wien 1981
- Johann Adam Hiller: Lebensbeschreibungen berühmter Musikgelehrten und Tonkünstler neuerer Zeit. Leipzig 1784, reprinted Leipzig 1975